Crate and Barrel
Pretty fancy pants for a big box furniture store before getting into custom solid wood stuff. I definitely get sticker shock when looking at certain things especially comparing to IKEA pricing, but that’s not comparing apples-to-apples. Things do feel like they’ll last quite awhile and there are sales throughout the year if you can wait. We were looking for a wood table and chairs and actually found Crate and Barrel to be reasonable compared to other places that we were looking at.
Browse furniture at Crate and Barrel
EQ3
Wanting something a step up from our starter IKEA furniture, we settled on EQ3 not far from IKEA in Calgary. You can’t cash and carry and have to wait and have things delivered, but that’s alright. It was one of the upgrades we wanted too: to just have furniture be brought in and setup without us having to assemble it. There is a certain fun factor and a rite of passage to haul too big pieces in your too small car and then to assemble your own furniture, but it is pretty nice to have things be taken care of for you as well. We really like Canada and support local where we can. EQ3 is proudly Canadian and most pieces are Made in Canada as well. I like their upholstered furniture like sofas and sectionals, classic and well built.
IKEA
Everyone starts with IKEA furniture when they first move out. Having moved a few times in my adult life, my IKEA stuff is surprisingly durable and has survived much better than I ever expected. Great value for money in my book. Cheap breakfast, hot dogs and frozen yogurt doesn’t hurt either. A definite plus if you break something, is that chances are, items are still around and you can probably find a replacement and maybe even parts.